Current affairs- April 26, 2016
All new mobiles to have panic button from 2017
According
to a notification issued recently by the Department of Telecom, “from January
2018, mobile handset manufactures will be able to sell their products in India only if the product has the emergency feature that
enables identifying the location through satellite-based GPS.”
- These rules are called the panic button and Global Positioning System facility in all mobile handsets Rules, 2016. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
What
else is there in the notification?
- The notification says that effective January 2017, mobile phones without facility of panic button by pressing ‘numeric key – 5’ or ‘numeric key – 9’ to invoke emergency call cannot be sold.
- Once the panic button is pressed, a signal/call will be made to the nearest security agency. However, the details of how the system will work are yet to be finalised.
Cure for high medicine bills: A generics prescription law
The
Central government is considering the introduction of a law to make it
mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic drugs so that patients can access
affordable medicines provided through state-run Jan Aushadhi stores.
Why
a law in this regard is necessary?
It
is because doctors usually don’t prescribe generic medicines supplied through
Jan Aushadi stores. So patients find it tough to ask for the correct generic
equivalents.
- Also, ex-factory cost of medicines gets marked up multiple times owing to supply chain costs and incentives for medical representatives. But, the Jan Aushadhi stores are able to provide the same drugs at very cheaper prices.
Background:
The
Government, in June 2015, had proposed to open 1000 more stores under the ‘Jan
Aushadhi Scheme’ to make available quality generic medicines at affordable
prices through these special outlets.
What
is Jan Aushadhi Scheme?
It
is a scheme which seeks to make available quality medicines at affordable
prices for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.
- Under this, less priced quality unbranded generic medicines will be made available through Jan Aushadhi stores which inherently are less priced but are of same and equivalent quality, efficacy and safety as compared to branded generic medicines.
- Under this Scheme, the State Government has to provide space in Government Hospital premises for the running of the outlets (JAS). Government hospitals, NGOs, Charitable Organisations and public societies like Red Cross Society, Rogi Kalyan Samiti typically constituted for the purpose can be operating agencies for the JAS.
- The operating agency for JAS is nominated on the basis of the recommendations of the State government. Operational expenditure is met from trade margins admissible for the medicines.
- The State Government has to ensure prescription of unbranded generic medicines by the Government doctors.
- The Jan Aushadhi Programme is accordingly a self sustaining business model not dependent on government subsidies or assistance. It is run on the principle of “Not for Profits but with Minimal Profits”.
The
Jan Aushadhi Campaign will help:
- Improve access to healthcare in as much as cost of treatment would come down substantially. This would enable the Public Health System to increase the coverage.
- Secure a socio-economically viable mechanism/institutional arrangement for efficacious sales of Pharma CPSU products, thereby improving their viability.
- Promote & encourage private industry to sell their quality unbranded generic products through these retail outlets.
- Educate doctors that unbranded generic medicines provide a better option that branded products since quality of generic medicines can be equally efficacious and safe at much lower prices.
- Create consumer awareness by involving private, charitable bodies and NGOs by making them part of the campaign.
- Reduce promotional cost and profits for the benefit of patients.
At
present, there are 283 stores in 22 States and Union Territories.
Centre steps in to expedite patent approvals
The
government is taking measures to reduce the time to examine patent applications
for clearing them at the earliest.
What’s
the target?
Now
the time is between 5 and 7 years for the first examination of patent
applications. The target is to bring it down to 18 months, which is the
benchmark in the U.S. for the first examination after the applications are
filed.
What
is being done to achieve this?
To
bring down the examination time, government will be setting a monthly,
quarterly, half-yearly and an annual benchmark. In addition to the existing
strength of 130 examiners of patents and designs, the government recently hired
458 new examiners. An additional 263 examiners will soon be recruited on a
contract basis.
Also,
online examination has begun to reduce pendency. The government has already
hired around 100 new examiners for trademarks. Examination time for trademarks
has been reduced from 13 months to 8 months. And the new target is to bring
this time down to one month by March 2017.
Present
scenario:
The
pendency in patent applications and trademark registration as on February 1,
2016 was around 2.37 lakh and 5.44 lakh respectively. One of the main reasons
for this situation was shortage of manpower.
Centre’s nod for NIMZ in Medak
The
government has granted the final approval to the National Investment and
Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) at Zaheerabad in Medak district, Telangana.
- The estimated total investment by the manufacturing industry by the end of the ultimate phase of the NIMZ’s development is Rs.17,300 crore and the employment generation is about 2.77 lakh.
What
are National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs)?
The
National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) are an important
instrumentality of the National manufacturing policy. The NIMZs are envisaged
as integrated industrial townships with:
- State of the art infrastructure.
- Land use on the basis of zoning.
- Clean and energy efficient technology.
- Necessary social infrastructure.
- Skill development facilities etc.
Aim:
NIMZs
aim to provide a productive environment for persons transitioning from the
primary to the secondary and tertiary sectors.
What
the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) says?
The
National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) has the objective of enhancing the share of
manufacturing in GDP to 25% and creating 100 million jobs over a decade. The
NMP provides for promotion of clusters and aggregation, especially through the
creation of national investment and manufacturing zones (NIMZ).
The
National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) provides for:
- Relief from Capital Gains Tax on sale of plant and machinery of a unit located in a National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in case of re-investment of sale consideration within a period of three years for purchase of new plant & machinery in any other unit located in the same NIMZ or another NIMZ.
- Rollover relief from long term Capital Gains tax to individuals on sale of a residential property (house or plot of land) in case of re-investment of sale consideration in the equity of a new start-up SME company in the manufacturing sector for the purchase of a new plant and machinery.
- Simple and expeditious exit mechanism for closure of sick units while protecting labour interests.
- In respect of environmental laws/regulations, inspection by specially trained/designated/notified agencies for third party inspection to supplement the inspection by the Government agencies for compliance monitoring.
Some
notable points:
- NIMZ can be proposed with land area of at least 5000 hectares.
- Land will be selected by state governments and preference would be given to uncultivable land.
- NIMZ will be managed by Special Purpose Vehicle, headed by. Govt. officials and experts, including those of environment.
- To enable NIMZs to function as self governing autonomous bodies, they will be declared by the state government as industrial townships under Article 243 Q (c) of the constitution.
- NIMZs will be notified by the central government.
Govt. looking to axe 52 out of 200 allowances
The
government is planning to scrap 52 of the nearly 200 allowances.
Why?
It
is because the Seventh Pay Commission found inadequate the justifications
offered by the Ministries for these allowances. Besides recommending that 52
allowances be abolished, the Commission suggested that another 36 be subsumed
in an existing allowance or in new allowances it proposed.
Background:
- The Pay Commission found the entire system of nearly 200 allowances haphazard. Hence, the government was asked to suggest rationalisation of a variety of allowances.
- The commission found that many allowances were meagre cash payments and have lost significance.
- Allowances which will be abolished include family planning allowance, cycle allowance to postal officials and the briefcase allowance.
What
are allowances?
Allowances
are paid to employees — both in civil and defence jobs — over and above the
basic pay, either as a percentage of it, or as a specified amount, which
usually varies with employees’ “level or status”.
Facts
The eleventh India-Mongolia joint training exercise,
‘Nomadic Elephant-2016’,
to promote military associations between the countries has begun at Mongolia.
The exercise aims to develop synergy and inter operatability between the armies
to battle in counter insurgency and counterterrorism environment under the UN
mandate.
Based
on the data gathered from 35 noise monitoring systems installed in 9 metro
cities, CPCB has named Mumbai as the
noisiest city in India. Mumbai is followed by Lucknow, Hyderabad and Delhi. Though the
most common source of noise pollution is motor vehicles, the other sources like
generator sets, office machines, aircraft, industrial and construction
activities too substantially contribute to increasing the noise level in the
cities. Noise level beyond
the prescribed limits of 55 dB during day and 45 dB during night is considered
as noise pollution. CPCB also notes that noise pollution can cause aggression,
hypertension, hearing loss, tinnitus and sleep disturbance.
